Monday, 1 April 2013

As a new piece to my blog I'd thought about delving into our past and finding out what has happened to bike stars from yester-year. The years when Mountain Biking started coming of age and the good old Grundig World Cups. There have been many champions to the sport of both downhill and XC but there have been some that stood out more than others and so I'll be delving as deep as I dare and finding out what really happened to them after racing.

Missy Giove

Melissa "Missy" Giove (born 1972) is a former professional downhill mountain biker. Also know as the Missile , Giove was one of mountain-bike racing's first mainstream female superstars with an impressive reseme of achievements as well as her in your face, full on attitude that lit up the womens downhill scene.

Career

She is the American all-time leader in NORBA downhill wins with 14, and is second on the World Cup list with 11. Giove's other accomplishments include three overall NORBA downhill crowns, two World Cup overalls, and the 1994 world championship title. Prior to cycling, Missy was also a nationally ranked downhill skier.

Early in her career, Missy raced for the highly respected boutique Yeti Racing team along with other top downhill racing stars such as Myles Rockwell, Jimmy Deaton, John Tomac, and Johnny O under the management of industry veteran and former owner of Yeti Cycles, John Parker. After establishing herself as the top US women's downhill talent, Missy moved to the larger corporate financed team of Volvo-Cannondale USA cycling team. Together Missy Giove and Myles Rockwell dominated many of the US downhill races under the Cannondale badge in the early 90's. Missy was always known for being colorful and fast talking, and noted for wearing the desiccated body of her deceased pet piranha Gonzo on a necklace when racing, and her dead dogs ashes in her bra.

During her career she raced hard and full on taking on the ethos of riding: "I went fast for maybe 50 yards and then crashed. Then I went 100 yards and crashed. Finally one day I made it across the finish line without crashing. I never got faster, I just made it down farther." This riding was to lead to many hard crashes. One shattered her Pelvis in six places. An injury that Doctors had told her she would not fully recover from. Later while racing she also broke both her legs as well as getting a brain haemorage.

*World Cup Results At Bottom of Page*

What Happened After Racing

She announced her retirement from full-time racing in August 2003, and in March 2004, she appeared in an episode of the cartoon Rocket Power titled "Missile Crisis" (the title referring to her nickname), giving one of the characters a compliment. After retirement she helped finance the travel and fees for several up and coming downhill cyclists.

She retired in 2003. That same year she landed on the cover of Girlfriends magazine for a story promoting the publication’s lesbian athlete hall of fame. On April 25th she will celebrate her 4th wedding anniversary to Kristen Hofheimer Giove.

In June 2009 Giove was arrested in upstate Wilton, New York on charges of conspiring to possess and distribute over 400 pounds of marijuana. Giove has pleaded guilty to the charges and was facing a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years, a maximum penalty of 40 years imprisonment and a fine of up to $2 million.

On November 23rd, 2011 she was sentenced to the time served, six months of home detention and five years of supervised release. She was reported saying:

"I am extremely sorry and remorseful," Giove said. "I realize I was a role model to certain people. I'm really sorry for making the wrong decisions. I just want to move forward." Giove's attorney, Tim Austin, said head injures both forced his client to retire and sapped her financially, contributing to her decision to traffic marijuana. "Missy's involvement in this does not define who she is," Austin said. "She does not need prison to be rehabilitated."

Back in 2004, Giove was interviewed by competitive cycling journal VeloNews. She was asked what she thought would be her legacy:

“I just always wanted to inspire people not to live their life in fear,” Giove said. “You know what, you’re only here once and that’s it. You better live it up.”

6
Comments:

Thanks Emma! Once I got this idea watching some old xc races and it made think where these guys had got to. I don't remember them retiring. I've got loads to choose from and missy seemed a good starting point. Not sure who to write about next!

What is it with the mavericks of our sport getting popped for big hauls? Missy bringing the mega stash and closer to home poor old Daryl Webster getting done for mass production (look him up, he was a really cool guy and an amazing TT rider)

As a young male XC biker, I looked up to Missy big time back in the 90's. Fast and awesome and cool and successful (and and and...), she made a dorky kid with a helmet feel less dorky on his frankenbike in an area where nobody rode bikes. It's her generation of riders that I still envision trying to catch when I am riding. I wish her the best and hope to buy her a drink one day!